The present invention relates to setting anchors in a masonry member, and more specifically to suspending a plurality of anchor bolts from a template and then pouring a wet concrete foundation around the anchor bolts that will then set with the anchor bolts embedded and protruding from it.
It is a generally accepted practice in most parts of the United States to anchor the exterior walls of light frame buildings to the foundation with anchor or bolts that are partially embedded in the foundation and protrude form the top surface of the foundation of the building. It is also becoming more common to see interior walls similarly anchored to the foundation.
One common method of forming a concrete foundation with anchor bolts protruding from its top surface at selected locations is to suspend the anchor bolts in the space defined by the foundation's form and then pour the wet concrete around the anchor bolts. Sometimes the bolts can be supported from below or they can be wired to rebar laid into the foundation. It is also common to attach a special hanger or template to the foundation's form or other structure and then suspend the anchor bolts from the special hanger or template.
Simpson Strong-Tie Company, Inc. sells a plastic hanger or support under the trademark AnchorMate® that is used to suspend a single anchor bolt close to the edge of the foundation. The hanger attaches to a single form board. U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,182, granted to Thomas Hartley, also teaches a support for a single anchor bolt that additionally spaces the form boards for a narrow foundation wall.
Supports for suspending a single anchor bolt work well where the spacing between the bolts is not critical as is the typical case when anchoring the sill plate of a stud-framed wall to the foundation. However, when a plurality of anchor bolts need to be placed in the foundation in close proximity to together receive and anchor a single structural element such as a large post or prefabricated shear wall, it is generally recognized that a single template or hanger should be used to locate the bolts with respect to each other.
One such template for positioning a plurality of anchor bolts is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,458,184, granted to Francis G. Schlosser. This invention taught a template that positioned four anchor bolts in close proximity for anchoring lighting and traffic poles. As noted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,458,184, not only is important that the bolts protrude from the foundation at specific distances and orientations with respect to each other, but that they also be set in true plumb. If one of the bolts is skewed with respect to the others, even if protrudes from the foundation at the proper location, it may not be possible to fit the selected structural element to be anchored over all the bolts.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,458,184 teaches forming the template from folded cardboard. Folding and interlocking portions of the template together provide it with rigidity. According to the patent, the templates can be delivered to the construction site unfolded, set-up on site, used, and then restored to their flat positions for easy transport.
In comparison, the present invention is made from a rigid material such as sheet steel and is designed with special reinforcements in selected areas so that it can maintain its structural integrity despite being subjected to the rigors of being used on a construction site, so that it can be reused over and over again.